Textile machinery



July 17, 1934. w. POOL TEXTILE MACHINERY Filed Oct.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fl G l v WILLIAM POOL ATTORNEYS July 17, 1934. w. POOL TEXTILE MACHINERY Filed Oct. 5. 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet Fl Q5- F PIC-3.4.. a 4O '56 I WILLIAM POOL INVENTOR Patented July 17, 1934 TEXTILE MACHINERY William Pool, Spondon, near Derby, England, as-

slgnor to'Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application'October 5, 1932, Serial No. 636,305 In Great Britain October 19, 1931 7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in textile machinery; andmore particularly in-weaving looms.

The :object of the invention 'is to effect the trimming of weft ends projecting from the edge of fabrics during weaving, the invention being particularly advantageous in connection with looms in'which theweft is takenfrom' a stationary supply and inserted in out lengths whose ends 10 project from the fabric after beat-up.

A loom of :the type above mentioned is described 'inU. S. application S. No. 484,785 filed 27th September, 1930, in which weft taken from a stationary supply 'is formed into a loop prior *1! to insertion, and then led into the shed either in single pick lengths or in double pick lengths with each-of the loop limbs inserted in separate sheds. In the operation of looms of thistype it is advisable to measure a weft length somewhat in excess of the length of the single or double pick, as the case may be, which is to be inserted from each loop in order to ensure that each pick extends through the full width of the fabric, and the excess length of weft is left projecting at the 2 side of the loom. In the case where weft is laid in double pick lengths with the two picks in separate sheds and connected together atone edge ofthe fabric, the excess wefta-t bothends of any one loop length lies at the other edge of the '30 fabric, butin the usual operation of the loom weft is inserted from each side of the loom alternately,

so that excess weft appears on both sides of the fabric;

In U. S. application S. No. 526,317 filed 30th March, l931,'use is made of the excess weft length by applying'tension tothe projecting end of, weft so as to draw the weft straight during beat-up,

the particular embodiment of apparatus described'in that specification comprising a suction 4 0 apparatus which causes the weft end to be sucked into an aperture and then held out of and away from the plane of the fabric by a trapping device until beat-up has taken place.- The specification describes how' severing means may be employed to cut away surplus weft from the pick which has been beaten up, into the fabric, one particular means: being av knife which'operates close to the suction aperture. It has been found, however, that there is the danger that, after cutting, the short length ofweft extending from the edge of the fabric to the suction aperture may be drawn into 'a subsequent shed, this giving an unsightly appearance to: the. fabric- According to the present invention, this danger r is avoided by the use of. cutting means. which presents to the length of weftextending from the edge of the fabric a plurality of teeth adapted to engage-and to sever the projecting end of the weft close to the edge of the fabric. The use of a plurality of cutting teeth ensures that the pro- 69; jecting weft end is always severed close to the fabric edge, notwithstanding any slight variations inthe position of the fabric edge which may occur during weaving. For the purpose of the invention, a cutting device similar to the well- 6,5 5; known hair trimmer may be employed, the device comprising two toothed members relatively movable to produce a multiple scissor-actionbetween the large number of pairs of teeth in the two members. Fordealing with different widths of 7,3. fabrics, suitable provision for adjustment of the position of the cutting means may be provided.

By the use of the inter-operating means above described, the projecting weft end can easily be reduced to a length less than the width of the 7 5, usual selvedge, so that should such end he whipped into the fabric 'in a subsequent shed, it does not extend through the selvedge and so cannot spoil the appearance of the fabric. If desired, the extremely short projecting ends can be cropped to a still shorterlength after weaving by running the fabric through .a shearing machine. 1

The operation of the cutting device may be effected in any convenient man'ner,.either continuously during the operation of the loom, or more conveniently intermittently at the times when cutting is required to take place on the forward movement of the sley. Cutting takes place on alternate picks at each side of the loom 99 when weft insertion from double-pick looplengths takes place from the vtwo sides of the loom alternately, two cutting devices being employed. r v It is convenient to operate a cutting device in conjunction withthe weft feeler device described in U. S. application S, No. 628,983 filed August 16th, 1932, since both the cutter and the feeler device are required to operate on the same projecting weft end at substantially the ;1o0 same time. Thus, the moving parts of the weft feeler mechanism operating at the two sides of the loom from the tappet shaft may each be connected by a link to an arm connected to the movingmember of the cutting device at its own side of the. loom. This arm may bearranged to rock or slide one member over the other member. Conveniently, one member may be held stationary, leaving only one member to be operated. Any other. form of connection between the cutting device and the moving part of the feeler mechanism may be employed. Conveniently, the cutting device may be mounted on the temple, the cutting teeth projecting slightly in front of the temple so as just to clear the reed at the foremost position of the sley.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that this description is given by way of example only and is in no respect limitative.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the cutting device;

Figure 2 is a part sectional view along line 22 of Figure 1 and arranged so as to show the weft suction trap;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the relative positions of the fabric and the weft cutters relative to the shuttle race;

Figures 4 and 5 show in diagrammatic manner a plan and elevation of the disposition of the cutting devices and operating mechanism of the loom; and

Figure 6 is an elevation of a modified detail of the mechanism.

Figures 1 and 2 show the warps 1O proceeding through the reed 11 and across the shuttle race 12, the reed and shuttle race being shown at forward centre. The fabric 13 is gripped by the rollers 14 of the temple 15 on its way to the fabric take-up mechanism (not shown) of the loom. The weft is inserted in the warp shed from both sides of the loom by a dummy shuttle 16 (see Figure 4) so as to leave a free end 17 of each pick projecting from the edge of the warps 10, this end being attracted by suction into an aperture 18 in the shuttle race, and trapped by a slide in the space 19 being thereby held out of and away from the plane of the fabric. For a detailed description of suitable methods of weft insertion and tensioning, reference may be had to U. S. applications S. Nos. 484,785 and 526,317.

Mounted on the underside of the temple 15 at each side of the loom and in such a position as to cross the line of the gripped weft end 17 when the weft is beaten up into the fabric, is a cutting device comprising a fixed fiat plate 20 bearing at one edge a row of protruding teeth 22 co-operating with similar teeth forming the edge of a second fiat plate 23.

The second plate 23 is adapted to slide laterally to and fro across the fixed plate 20 so that the protruding teeth constituting the edge of the plate 23 are moved across the teeth of the fixed plate 20 in such a manner as to exercise a cutting action and to sever the weft end 17 upon the thread entering the cutting zone. The fixed plate 20 bears two upstanding pegs 21 which extend into slots 21a in the plate 23 so as toguide and limit the movement of the plate 23. The fixed plate 20 is located on the underside of the temple 15 by means of a shouldered pin 26 which penetrates the plate 20 and extends into an aperture 25 on the underside of the temple 15 (Figure 2) so as to space the fixed plate 20 from the underside of the temple 15 in order to allow free movement of the movable plate 23. A blade spring 36 pivotally secured at 37 to the temple bracket 38 is adapted to bear against the lower face of the fixed plate 20, thus retaining the whole cutting device in position against the underside of the temple 15, while enabling the device to be readily removed.

The pin 26 also is adapted to act as a pivot for an oscillatable bell-crank lever 2'7 having a hammer-like extremity 28 extending into a slot 29 in the movable plate 23. The oscillation of the extremity 28 within the slot 29 gives to the movable plate its lateral to and fro movement across the fixed plate 20. The other extremity of the lever 2'7 is pivotally connected at 30 to a link 31 which in turn is pivotally connected at 32 to a lever 33 (Figures 4 and 5). The lever 33 is fulcrumed at 34 about which point it is oscillated by a cam 35 mounted on the half-time shaft 40 of the loom. The oscillatory motion of the lever 33 is transmitted through the link 31 and the bellcrank lever 27 to the movable plate 23 of the cutting device and by reason of the cam 35 being rotated by the half-time shaft of the loom, one complete oscillation occurs only on alternate strokes of the beat-up of the loom.

When the weft lengths are inserted into alternate sheds in hairpin form, a pick from one side of the loom being followed by a pick from the other side, the protruding weft threads appear at any one edge of the warps only on alternate picks of the loom and by suitably timing the cam 35, the cutting means are caused to operate exactly when, and only when required, i. e., just as the weft is beaten up, or' if desired, the profile of the cam 35 may be such as to cause the cutting device to operate continuously during the operation of the loom.

By securing the cutting device to the underside of the temple, it may be set so'close to the selvedge of the fabric as to leave a very short tail of weft which cannot be drawn into the fabric, the relatively thin construction of the device enabling it to be arranged in the small amount of space between the temple and the shuttle race without interfering with the working of the loom.

A second cam 135. also mounted on the halftime shaft 40 serves to operate similar cutting means A situated at the opposite edge of the fabric and, as shown in Figure 1, the cam 135 is timed to operate on that stroke of the loom during which a weft thread end 17 extends from that side of the warps, i. e. in alternation'with the cuttingmeans B on the other side of the loom.

In order to return the lever 33 to its rearmost position, and so compel it to follow the course f the cam profile, a spring 39 is arranged so as to bear upon the upper extremity of the lever 33. If the cutting means are used in a loom provided with means adapted to bring the loom to rest on breakage or absence of weft thread in the manner described in U. S. application S. No. 628,983, the lever 33 may be the one employed in the stop mechanism, being provided with a blade 41 to engage the weft feeler and actuate a knock off device. Thus, the bladed lever may be provided with a small bracket 42 to which the link 31 is pivoted.

In Figure 6 is shown an alternative method of transmitting the oscillation of the lever 33 to the lever 27 of the cutting device. The link 31 is replaced by a flexible spring link 131 in order that the temple 15, and with it the cutting device, may be moved slightly in any direction necessary for good weaving, without the necessity of altering'the driving connections.

Major adjustment of the positions of the cutting devices for different widths of cloth is effected by moving the temples on their brackets and altering the positions-0f the cams 35, 135 on the shaft 40. What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:--

lengths whose ends project from the edge of the fabric, said loom comprising means adapted to seize one end of the cut length of weft inserted into the fabric and hold said projecting end out of the plane of the fabric, and a cutting device located at the edge of the fabric and substantially parallel to the plane thereof, said device including a plurality of teeth adapted to engage and sever the projecting weft end close to the edge of the fabric.

2. A loom in which weft is inserted in cut lengths whose ends project from the edge of the fabric, said loom comprising means adapted to seize one end of the cut length of weft inserted into the fabric and hold said projecting end out of the plane of the fabric, and a cutting device located at the edge of the fabric between the fabric and the shuttle race of the loom and substantially parallel to the plane thereof, said device including a plurality of teeth adapted to engage and sever the projecting weft end close to the edge of the fabric.

3. A loom in which weft is inserted in cut lengths whose ends project from the edge of the fabric, said loom comprising means adapted to seize one end of the cut length of weft inserted to the fabric and hold said projecting end out of the plane of the fabric, and a pair of multitoothed inter-operating cutting members located at the edge of the fabric and substantially parallel to the plane thereof, and adapted to engage and sever the projecting weft end close to the edge of the fabric.

4. A loom in which weft is inserted in cut lengths whose ends project from the edge of the fabric, said loom comprising means adapted to seize one end of cut length of weft inserted into the fabric and hold said projecting end out of the plane of the fabric, and a cutting device located at the edge of the fabric and substantially parallel to the plane thereof and including a fixed plate and a movable plate each bearing teeth at one edge, said movable plate being adapted to slide over the fixed plate so that one set of teeth moves over the other set in order to sever the projecting weft end close to the edge of the fabric.

5. A loom in which Weft is inserted in cut lengths whose ends project from the edge of the fabric, said loom comprising means adapted to seize one end of the cut length of weft inserted into the fabric and hold said projecting end out of the plane of the fabric and a cutting device located at the edge of the fabric and substantially parallel to the plane thereof, said cutting device being adjustably mounted in accordance with the width of fabric to be woven, and including a plurality of teeth adapted to engage and sever the projecting weft end close to the edge of the fabric.

6. A loom in which weft is inserted in cut lengths whose ends project from the edge of the fabric, said loom comprising means adapted to seize one end of the cut length of weft inserted into the fabric and hold said projecting end out of the plane of the fabric, a loom temple, and a cutting device located at the edge of the fabric and substantially parallel to the plane thereof,

mounted on said temple, and including a plurality of teeth adapted to engage and sever the projecting weft end close to the edge of the fabric.

'7. A loom in which weft is inserted in cut lengths whose ends project from the edge of the fabric, said loom comprising at each side thereof means adapted to seize ends of the cut lengths of weft inserted into the fabric and hold said projecting ends out of the plane of the fabric, a

cutting device located at each edge of the fabric and substantially parallel to the plane thereof, said device including a plurality of teeth adapted to engage and sever the projecting weft end close to the edge of the fabric, and means to actuate alternately the cutting devices at successive beatl."

up positions.

WILLIAM POOL. 

